14ymedio, Havana, 28 March 2019 — The Telecommunications Company of Cuba (ETECSA) and the US tech giant Google signed a memorandum of understanding in Havana on Thursday to negotiate an Internet traffic exchange service agreement, known as peering, which aims to improve the quality of access to the contents of the network.
The companies signed the document in a meeting this morning in the presence of a large group of journalists, but the event barely featured the agreement and no questions were allowed to the press.
It is not known when the improvements derived from this agreement will begin, since, according to a statement from Etecsa, the work will start “when the technical conditions allow it.”
The state monopoly affirms that this memorandum is part of its commitment to “the development and computerization of the country.” The company and Google had already signed a prior agreement in December 2016 that runs from April 2017.
Etecsa takes the opportunity to emphasize that more than a dozen US companies have agreements with Cuban companies, despite the deterioration of political relations and the recent measures taken by the US Government.
The signing of this document was announced for Tuesday, but it was postponed with no reasons or explanations given. A day before, the agreement with Russia in the telecommunications sector had been made known.
Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Communications, Wilfredo González, explained that this agreement referred in particular to the information technology industry and incorporates elements of cybersecurity.
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